10/08/2007
NFIB's friend-of-the-court brief seeks to aid effort halting Jan. 1, 2008 compliance date
Contact: Michelle Bolton, 602-263-7690, or Tony Malandra, 415-664-9685
PHOENIX--The National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation, the legal voice for America's leading small-business group, late Friday afternoon filed a petition with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona asking permission to participate as an amicus (friend of the court) in a critical case that seeks to stop a new state law on immigration from taking effect Jan. 1, 2008.
The lawsuit, Arizona Contractors' Association Inc., et al v. Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona, and Terry Goddard, Attorney General of Arizona, seeks to halt a first-of-its-kind requirement on small-business owners.
The new law, popularly known as the Fair and Legal Employment Act, is a result of legislative passage of House bill 2779, which was signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano in July. Starting Jan. 1, 2008, the law requires all Arizona employers to verify new hires through the federal basic pilot program, now known as e-verify.
"Immigration is not an issue small-business owners are fuzzy on. In a recent survey, more than 90 percent of small-business owners ranked immigration as a problem, and within that number, more than half call it a very serious one," said Michelle Bolton, NFIB/Arizona state director. "While well intended, Arizona's new law is unfair to Arizona's businesses. States should not be forcing businesses to comply with a federal program, especially when the program is in its pilot stage and has a high error rate."
"The last thing America needs is a crazy quilt of 50 different immigration laws," said Karen Harned, executive director of the NFIB's Legal Foundation. "Arizona's small-business owners are no different from entrepreneurs in other states. First and foremost, they believe immigration is a national matter best handled at the federal level."
